Taking Chances
by iaiaianto
Summary: Basically this is a college AU where Finn, Poe, Kylo, and Hux are all suitemates and Rey and Rose live across the hall. So if you want some good gay lighthearted SW sequels content, here it is (though it may get angsty at times). Also since it's an AU there are no spoilers!
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE: in which things are introduced and the whole idea of "liking someone" comes into play earlier than expected

Poe Dameron pressed the home button on his phone furiously. The damn thing wouldn't unlock and he was still the first to arrive in the extremely cold dorm. Poe shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans, which his mother had just bought for his first day at college. The suite seemed even emptier than it had last night; the old floors creaked whenever Poe walked across them and sometimes almost made him jump out of his (admittedly very smooth) skin. He fixed one of the many posters of planes that he had just taped to his wall with one hand, the other one poised over the "CALL HOME" button.  
 _Whatever. I'll call Mom tonight_ , he thought. Poe made his way into the common area, all stark and white and sterile, waiting for him to do exactly what he was about to do. He took a neatly folded pride flag out of his suitcase and taped THAT to the wall. If any of them were homophobic, they'd know to keep that inside around him.  
 _Creak_.  
Poe whipped his head around and took his feet off the table that he'd casually placed them on, knocking over a chair with a BANG. "Great job, Poe, just fantastic," he muttered, not quite realizing he was saying it out loud.  
"You all right in there?" _Oh shit_ , Poe thought, _that's probably my roommate. Great._  
"I'm fine. Come on in," Poe said in a voice that was just a little bit too cheery.  
The door shuddered open and in stepped a boy a few inches taller than Poe. He was completely alone; no parents, no guardians, just a handful of papers under his arm. The boy pushed his thin, gold-rimmed glasses up his nose. "Hey, I'm Finn."  
"Poe, like the author," said Poe, trying to look into his eyes in a kind way and not in a FUCK-YOU'RE-GORGEOUS type of way. "So we're roommates! Nice." God, he sounded like such an idiot. Finn rolled his suitcase across the floor, and Poe noticed that he didn't have much else with him. Not that Poe would judge, of course; his family wasn't and never had been rich, but hey, he needed a reason to not stare at Finn's deep brown eyes and perfect bone structure.  
"We in here?" Finn asked, walking into their room. "Nice decorations. I don't really know much about planes myself, but you know."  
"My dad was a pilot," Poe blurted. His father had been a pilot for over 25 years, until a nasty plane crash had cost him the use of his legs, and Poe admired him unendingly.  
"Cool!" said Finn distractedly, unpacking a pair of jeans from his suitcase. He turned around and looked at Poe, a smile playing on his lips. "Was that flag out there yours?"  
 _Oh, fuck_. "Yeah, that's mine," he said, hoping to the gods that this beautiful man wasn't some kind of homophobe.  
"Sick, thank god you're not awful. I'm gay, too." Finn said. Poe hoped he wasn't blushing. "Anyway, I saw our suitemate downstairs. I'm not sure which one he is, but he looks..." Finn trailed off, trying to think of a word. "Edgy. And huge," he finished.  
Poe laughed. "That should be fun."  
As if on cue, a loud voice came down the hall and through the walls. "Dad, what the fuck. Ugh. _Dad_ ," it said, coming closer and closer until Finn and Poe, who were looking at each other in silence, heard the sound of a key unlocking their door.  
"We're gonna have to live with this guy?" Poe whispered. Finn snorted.  
"I can get the goddamn suitcases myself," said the same voice from down the hall. Poe glanced through the doorframe and saw that it belonged to a very, very tall man. He didn't even want to call him a boy, even though he was probably only eighteen, because he was just _gigantic_. He also had a long, pale scar under his eye and all the way down to his neck. He looked like a _badass_.  
"Beefcake," Poe whispered again. Finn started to laugh just a bit too loud. The tall boy lifted his head, and Poe could only think of a bull flaring its nostrils, which made him smirk.  
"Ben," the woman who Poe assumed was his mother said in a warning tone.  
"I told you not to call me that," Ben (or whatever) said, looking away from where Poe and Finn were. "I can get everything. Just go, okay?" He crossed his arms in front of his (extremely large) chest and frowned. Reaching into the bin where his luggage was, Ben pulled out a bar, which he began to fasten to the doorframe of his room.  
"No way," said Finn, holding back laughter.  
Ben turned around. "What the fuck are you looking at?" he said to Finn, who simply raised an eyebrow.  
"Ben," his father said. "Relax."  
"Don't tell me to relax—" Ben began, but a look from his mother silenced him.  
"Go meet your roommates," she said softly. "We're going to head on home. Call us if you need anything. I love you, Kylo." She reached up and hugged him, planting a kiss on his cheek that he reluctantly accepted.  
"Stay safe," his father said. "Like your mother said, call us." He started to head out.  
"Han, really?" The woman pulled her husband in by the back of his shirt, causing Poe and Finn to chuckle and come out of their room a little bit. She smiled at them warmly, flipping her long brown hair over her shoulder, and Poe immediately liked her.  
Han gave her a sidelong look and turned to his son. "So long, Ben. Love you." They have each other a quick hug and they were both gone, leaving Finn and Poe to stare at this BRICK of a boy.  
"I'm Finn."  
He turned around, his long black hair falling into his eyes. He gave Finn a weary glance. "Kylo," he said. "Not Ben. I know the door says Ben because that's how my dad signed me up, but it's Kylo."  
He has a special _EMO NAME_ , Poe thought, but didn't say a word because he really, really wanted to start out on the right foot with everyone, even if it didn't stay that way.  
"I'm Poe. So that leaves your roommate as..." Poe grinned.  
"Armitage," Kylo said, cracking a smile. "What kind of name is that, do you think? I'm gonna go put my stuff away." He rolled his eyes, tossed his hair in exactly the way that his mother had, and lifted three suitcases up into the air and put them in his room effortlessly. Finn tried not to gape, got up from the couch where he was sitting, and went back into the room. Poe followed behind him, feeling a little uneasy from their interaction with Kylo, but not too bad.  
"He seems interesting," Poe said. He started to mime doing pull-ups.  
Finn burst into giggles ( _VERY CUTE_ , Poe thought) and shoved his hands in his pockets like Kylo had. He really was gorgeous, everything about him. But a roommate, Poe knew, was off-limits when it came to his many romantic pursuits. What if they had to break up and live together? What if Finn saw Kylo doing fifty pull ups in a row or something and Poe got jealous? It just wasn't realistic.  
Still, he really was gorgeous.  
 _Fuck being off limits_ , Poe thought, allowing himself to entertain the idea of a relationship with Finn. Poe already seemed to be getting along with his roommate, and the voice in his head relentlessly said "you never know" over and over.  
Finn leaned toward Poe, grinning. "Can you fucking wait, though? No rules, really. This is going to be amazing!" His excitement was contagious, and Poe had to laugh too. Soon, their two voices overlapped as the boys talked over each other, talked over the punk music blasting from Kylo's room, and talked over any thoughts that Poe had that Finn hated him or was annoyed by him.  
"And we won't have to see our parents," Poe said, his voice rising higher. "Not until Christmas!"  
Finn didn't meet his eyes. He glanced away for a second, his smile wavering for a fraction of a second. Poe looked at him quizzically.  
"Oh," Finn said quietly. "I don't really know who my parents are. I was put up for adoption when I was four. I've kind of been in the foster system since." He shook his head quickly. "Just thought you should know, like, I didn't want to bring down the mood or anything, it's just that—"  
"Don't worry about it, man," Poe said. And then, something happened that wasn't premeditated, no matter how much he would have liked it to be a suave gesture toward the breathtaking figure across from him. Poe sat next to Finn and hugged him from the side, just around his shoulders, but he could feel Finn's body relax.  
"Thanks," Finn said, looking at Poe just along enough so that he'd notice.  
 _Click-click-click._  
Finn whipped his head around toward the door to the common area. It was just slightly ajar, and the boys could hear the now-familiar sound of a luggage bin entering the room, accompanied by the clicking of dress shoes. Poe sauntered out, catching Finn's eye and mouthing "Armitage" before he left.  
The boy who stood with his back to Poe crisply closed the door and whirled around. He caught sight of Poe and stumbled back a step, then glared at him so ferociously that Poe second-guessed the severity of his own actions.  
"You're, uh, Armitage?" Poe struggled to keep a straight face.  
"No," not-Armitage said, not meeting Poe's eyes.  
What a charmer, Poe thought.  
The boy sniffed. "What are you staring at me for?" He had the poshest voice Poe had ever heard. "If you must call me anything, you can call me Hux."  
"Come on, couldn't it just be Bill or something?" Poe said. He really couldn't stop himself. "James? You could definitely be a James."  
Hux performed an eye roll so pronounced that Poe could have sworn he did it in slow motion. "I think we'll get along fine if you just don't call me anything." He started to roll one of his many, many suitcases into Kylo's room, and Poe almost felt as though he needed to warn Kylo, but he figured the clacking of Hux's shoes was enough. Poe sat down, resting his feet on the table as obnoxiously as he possibly could.  
"You still have roughly fifty more suitcases," Poe said loudly. "Is that one monogrammed?" He heard Finn snicker. "How'd you get all this shit on a plane from Merry Olde England, you—" Poe felt a poke in the middle of his back. He turned around and Hux was right in his face, like WAY too fucking close. "Kiss me, darling," Poe said. _God, I really can't stop myself, can I?_  
"Perish," Hux hissed. He sniffed, straightened up, and went back to his suitcases.  
"I do love the way you roll your R's," Poe continued, backing into his room. "Perrrrish. Anyway, my name is Poe Damerrrrrrron, nice to meet you." He closed the door behind him, and erupted into laughter. Finn joined in until the two of them physically couldn't laugh anymore. And they really didn't have to, at that point. It was fine with the both of them to just lie on the floor together, in silence.

—

Beep.  
Kylo's eyes flew open.  
Beep.  
He slammed a hand down on the alarm clock, which had a blinking 6:00 on its front.  
Beep.  
 _Shit. Missed the button._  
"What the hell?" Out of the corner of his eye, Kylo could see his roommate check his phone. "You're not a bloody morning person, are you?" Hux said, closing his eyes. Over his bed were a dozen paintings hanging from brass hooks. Most of them looked classical, with deep, rich colors and bold brush strokes, but a few were much darker and more twisted. A skull leered at Kylo from one, and a cloaked figure stood silently in another. Kylo decided he liked those the best.  
Right under the skull painting, a similar thin, white face rose back up from the covers. "We don't have class, you know." Hux's voice, which had sounded very crisp and clipped the day before, was slurred and groggy. He sounded like a human.  
"I what?"  
Shit. He said it out loud. "I didn't say anything. Just, uh, go back to sleep." Even in his sleep he was annoying, though. Where most people tossed and turned, Hux lay completely still, only his eyelids fluttering. It looked like he was in a coma, or a seizure, or maybe the type of deep-sleep spell that a princess gets stuck with in a fairy tale. Why did Kylo have to get stuck with this pretentious private-school boy when there were so, _so_ , _SO_ many other people he'd rather have as his roommate? Hux had already asked Kylo to take down his posters (he didn't), to turn his music down (he didn't), and to "get his things away from my things" (he didn't). It was like living with his father again, but if his father was mixed with Draco Malfoy and Regina George.  
Kylo had always gotten up earlier than most people. He just wasn't really one for sleeping, and anyway, he liked being awake when no one else was. It was quiet, almost eerily so, especially since the thick concrete walls of the dorm nearly masked all sound that came from outdoors. All he could hear was his own breathing, the hum of the air conditioning unit, and, every once and a while, Hux making a micro-movement in his sleep. _He really does look like he's in suspended animation or some shit,_ Kylo thought before realizing that looking at someone in their sleep was a very weird thing to do. He shook his head, threw off the covers, and tried to maneuver past the many suitcases that seemed to be everywhere. _Why would ANYONE need that many suitcases_ , Kylo wondered, kicking a small leather one out of his way.  
"Watch it," came the sleepy voice from the other side of the room. Kylo chose to ignore it. He padded over to the bathroom, and proceeded to get in the shower. Kylo hadn't taken a shower that was shorter than an hour for as long as he could remember. As usual, the shower curtain was too low, and he had to duck his head ever so slightly to get all of his hair underneath the shower head. And of course, to add insult to injury, his speaker wasn't working.  
"Fuck," Kylo muttered. He slapped the speaker with one large hand. It crackled to life, blasting at full volume.  
" _MAMA, WE ALL GO TO HELL_ —"  
"Shut the FUCK up!" he growled, furiously trying to turn the speaker down.  
"Correct," came a voice from behind the door, followed by a quick rap on the door. "I couldn't sleep at all because of your incessant alarm. So yes, kindly shut the fuck up."  
"Go away," Kylo sneered, clenching his fist.  
"I have to use the toilet," Hux replied. "You have been in there for quite a while."  
It had only been forty-five minutes. Kylo was just getting started, and he was not going to give this limey, sniveling asshole what he wanted. He poured shampoo into his hand especially slowly, even though he knew Hux couldn't see.  
Five minutes passed in sweet, sweet silence. Kylo started to sing quietly, until he heard a loud flush.  
 _No fucking way._ He turned off the shower and grabbed his bathrobe. There was no way— and yet there he was. Hux finished washing his hands and dried them on Kylo's towel.  
"My Chemical Romance. Very edgy," he said, turning to face Kylo.  
"How the fuck did you get in here?" Kylo asked, feeling his arms tense up.  
Hux picked up a single, stretched-out paper clip from the edge of the sink. "Next time, don't make me go through all the trouble. Or at least turn your music down so you know I'm coming in." He twirled the paper clip between his pale fingers, lightly dusted with just the most minute hint of freckles, and smirked.  
The bastard had broken in. He didn't look like he'd know what a lock was, let alone how to pick one. Kylo used every ounce of strength he had to stop himself from whacking Hux with his already balled fist, but alas, even all of his strength wasn't enough to stop him. He swung at Hux, and hit... nothing. Hux straightened up and smiled again, the same cringing, constipated smile that had been sliding on and off of his face for the past twelve hours.  
"Missed," he said simply, and left the bathroom.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO: in which risks are taken, friends are made, and Pizza Vodka Movie Night makes its first appearance

"You know what we should do?" Poe grinned expectantly at Finn, who rubbed the sleep from his eyes with one hand and hunted for his glasses with the other.

"What?"

"MOVIE NIGHT!" Poe exclaimed, slamming his hands together. "But not just any movie night, oh no. Pizza Movie Night." His eyes lit up. "Pizza _Vodka_ Movie Night."

Finn shrugged. He wasn't really a vodka person, but pizza was always great. "Sounds great. With who, though?" He could hardly picture Hux eating pizza, let alone taking shots.

"Our roommates, of course," Poe said. "Or, at least Kylo might. Not sure about Princess Diana over there."

"Princess Diana was a great woman."

"Okay, fine, Queen Victoria." Poe blew a curl away from his eyes. "But seriously, it's a good idea. We can invite those girls from across the hall, too. They seem cool."

Finn nodded. "Yeah, definitely!" He'd met Rey just last night while getting dinner at the dining hall. The food was fine, but he'd gotten completely and utterly lost amongst the 80-some students struggling to get food. Poe had accidentally left him behind, until Rey showed up and told him he was in the wrong line.

Rey had been in the summer program the year before, so she knew far more than a first year really should. But what Finn liked most about her was how focused she was on everything, from the amount of rice she scooped up from a tray to the way she seemed to perfectly draw her long, sandy hair back into three buns before eating. If he weren't gay, Finn would have had a huge crush on her.

But he was beginning to find that the section of his brain regarding crushes was just a tiny bit full.

"Don't ever hook up with your roommate," his friends had warned him. But Finn didn't really want to hook up with Poe, per se, although he didn't necessarily see that as a bad thing. He didn't want to rush into anything, but he'd also never really clicked with someone as well as he did with Poe. Growing up without any parents, Finn had learned to be wary of people. He'd developed a sort of instinctual way of knowing whether someone was going to hurt him in any way. But so far, Poe hadn't rung any of those bells. He was easygoing and, so far, one of the funniest people Finn had ever met. But, again, he didn't want to go a step too far.

"What movie should we watch?" Finn asked. He hoped Poe hadn't caught him spacing out and looking at him.

"An awful rom-com? Perhaps a nice, warm Disney movie to coax Armie out of his shell? But, yeah, awful rom com." Poe gasped. "Science fiction from the 80s!"

Finn laughed. "So no help from you, then." He got up off the bed to grab a bottle of water from the yellowed refrigerator that the dorm had kindly provided, opened the door, and nearly stepped on a painting.

"Don't move," Hux said, without looking up. "It's drying."

"Sorry, man, I have to get to the fridge." Finn looked around and saw that the floor was scattered with sketches and crumpled looking paintings. He moved the one by his feet out of the way, ignoring Hux's squeak of protest and Poe's "He's gonna get you!" from the doorway. "These are actually really good," Finn said, smiling shakily at the other boy.

"They're not."

"No, they are. Seriously." The sketches were haunting, if not exactly beautiful; one consisted of a bare tree growing out of rock, while another was a kind of self portrait made of swirls of gray and blue and orange. Finn grabbed his water bottle.

"Well, these are the ones I've made a shitshow of, so don't compliment them." Hux sharpened his pencil, but the lead fell out immediately. He let out a rush of air and nearly drove his other hand into the table, but stopped at the last minute. Then he glanced up, his pale eyes moving languidly onto Finn.

"Good luck," Finn said, a little perturbed. He nudged the door open with his foot and entered his room once again.

"This year's gonna be a joy," Poe said as soon as Finn came in. He jumped up off his bed and walked over to where Finn had just been. "Hey, Army Tits, do you know what a common room is?"

Finn snorted at "Army Tits", but seriously, it seemed like Poe either wanted to pick a fight or really couldn't stop himself. Yeah, Hux was annoying, but Finn would rather leave him alone than irritate him. And anyway, at least the art was _good_.

Poe and Hux continued squabbling, and Finn decided he'd pay attention to the muffled music coming from the other dorm room where Kylo was doing whatever Kylo did.

 _What I really want to do is kiss Poe and make him shut up_. Finn almost jumped because of the thought that seemed to pop into his head as if from nowhere. Not exactly from nowhere, per se, but Finn wasn't hoping for feedback from the mushy part of his brain at that moment. Poe was a perfect combination of a sly grin, a perfect sense of humor, and the type of confidence that was either completely genuine or crafted so everyone would _think_ it was completely genuine.

"He's like a goddamn alien," Poe muttered, slamming the door behind him.

Finn actually did jump that time. "Maybe it's weird for him. He's in a whole other country." _Change the subject._ He took a deep breath. _Make a move. Wait, I don't know how to actually do that._ "Have you ever had a boyfriend?" The words tumbled out of him unexpectedly. _Nice going_. "I mean, like, you don't have to tell me or anything."

Poe chuckled. "It's fine. I've had a boyfriend before, yeah. Clearly didn't go well. I've had two girlfriends, too. Clearly also didn't go well. You?"

He was experienced. Finn couldn't decide whether that was a good thing or not. But hey, when you looked like that, you had to be experienced. "No." He shrugged. "Guess I was too busy studying and stuff."

That wasn't actually the reason at all. Finn had been traveling between foster homes for as long as he could remember, and that amount of constant change had barely left him any time to make friends, let alone start a relationship with anyone. One day, he'd tell Poe everything, but for now he'd be vague about it, just in case.

"Smart," said Poe. "I was not doing that. God, when I was sixteen, I was actually fucking crazy. I went to parties. I drank. I tried pills. But I'm over that," he added quickly, his eyes flickering up.

Finn nodded. "I feel you." _Was a day too soon to tell someone you liked them?_ He realized how close Poe was leaning. Finn could make that move, he could do it, if only his nerves would actually connect to his brain and tell his hand to move.

He patted the mattress next to him. "You can sit here if you don't want to yell across the room." His heart sped up.

"Cool," Poe replied. He got up (very quickly, Finn noticed) and sat down next to him, so close that Finn could feel the warmth coming off his body. It was almost euphoric. _Am I really doing this?_

"Okay, um, quick question," Poe said rapidly. "Are you feeling it, too, or am I being completely brash and annoying? Is that just me?"

 _Holy shit?_ "If you're talking about what I'm talking about, then yeah, definitely. I mean no, you're not being annoying or brash. I think we're talking about the same thing."

Poe grinned, but in a softer, more subdued way than he had before. "I'm talking about how I think you're distractingly gorgeous."

Finn felt either like his heart had dropped into his shoes, or like it was flying in circles above his head. "Yeah, um, that's what I'm talking about, too." He hoped he didn't sound too excited, but he probably sounded _way_ too excited.

Poe put a hand on Finn's knee. Finn could hear his own blood pumping in his ears. He looked at Poe and opened his mouth, then closed it and simply nodded. He was gonna go for it, whatever. _I hope I'm a good kisser,_ Finn thought desperately, praying that he'd be at least decent enough that Poe wouldn't recoil. _How does it even really work?_

 _Oh. That's how._

Poe's lips met his, very, very softly. Finn felt a warmth deep in his stomach and just stopped thinking and stopped trying to act like he knew what the fuck he was doing, because he didn't at _all_. Poe began to kiss him more deeply, his tongue gently and curiously parting Finn's lips. Tentatively, he placed one hand on Finn's cheek, inviting him to lean in. Everything was so, so easy, and Finn realized how stupid it was, how childish it was that he had been nervous about a kiss. He let himself relax even more, and Poe cupped both sides of Finn's jaw more strongly this time, his thumbs brushing onto the soft skin of Finn's cheek. He smiled against Finn's lips.

"I have no idea what just happened, but I'm glad it did," Poe said softly, letting go of Finn's face.

Finn closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. His heart was racing still, because, come to think of it, he had had absolutely no idea that Poe was even considering the concept of finding him attractive, let alone actually doing so. He sighed softly and opened his eyes. "That was…" He trailed off, feeling a giddy laugh bubbling up in his throat. A flicker of movement, a single eyebrow raise from Poe then brought out the full laugh. "Great. Really great!" _Shit, it sounds like I'm talking about a movie._ But there was a little less concern now in Finn's mind, like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He felt as if he'd known Poe and his grin and his curls and his constant smell of fresh, clean soap and aftershave for years.

"I know." Poe pretended to brush his shoulder off. "I get that a lot."

"I'm completely aware that that was a joke, but I bet you do." Finn shrugged. "But for real, I think we should probably slow down, especially because of the whole roommates thing?"

"Oh yeah. Yeah. Of course." Poe said. "Wait till school actually starts. See if we feel the same." The look in his eyes clearly said that he definitely thought he'd feel the same. It was important to play it safe, Finn knew, but he had never really felt attracted to anyone. The problem wasn't that he wasn't sure if he liked Poe; he had just never dated anybody before and didn't think it was even in his power to do so. All his life, Finn had had to worry about maintaining scholarships and fitting in and moving schools every year or so. The prospect of love (which this was NOT, at least not yet) had always been something he believed would sneak up on him. To an optimist, his meeting with Poe would be fate, but to Finn, it was coincidence, and even that coincidence caused a feeling of apprehension that sat pretentiously next to the warm feeling lingering in the pit of his stomach.

—

The severe lack of rain pattering against the window made Hux feel especially alone. With each swoop of his pencil, the room seemed to close in even more tightly around him, the walls taunting him about his art and about how he should have never gotten on the wrong side of his roommate. It was almost nightfall, and Kylo hadn't returned to their room since that morning, when he had silently gotten dressed in the closet and left without a word to Hux.

He deserved that. Fine. But Kylo was just so cold and unfriendly that he didn't know how to act. Hux had, unknowingly at first, already reverted to the way he had been back home; the rude, standoffish boy that acted like an absolute prick to get people off his back. Hux hadn't been the most well-liked student at his boarding school to begin with, but back then it was because he was a thin, weak, pale eleven-year old who allowed himself to be tossed around like a doll. Kylo reminded him of those boys, the ones who would try to circle around him in PE seven years ago, the giants who would ask him if he was a virgin or if he ever went outside or if he was gay. He'd answer the first two truthfully, with a quiet "yes," then a "yes," but the last one even stumped Hux himself. He didn't really like anyone, anyway.

There was nothing for him to do, no organized, color-coordinated notebooks for him to study from, so Hux drew. He liked art; he wasn't sure if he could safely say he loved it (or if he loved anything, really), but it had pissed his father off to no end when Hux said he wanted to be an artist, not a lawyer or an accountant or a soldier like Brendol had wanted. And thus, Hux liked art, and he was good at it, so why not? It was quite likely he'd end up in the marketing side of art, anyway, because it wasn't as if he wanted to be a free-spirited, vagabond artist who lived on an organic farm, or whatever his father thought he was.

But Hux had had no friends back home, except for maybe his neighbor Mitaka, who barely spoke to him unless it was to copy his impeccably written homework. It was lonely, but Hux had always been a solitary person anyway, or so he told himself. Truthfully, it was getting tiring to be surrounded by his increasingly depressing thoughts, with no one but his mother to vent to. And she wasn't exactly ideal; she'd had Hux at a very young age and wasn't at all equipped to be a mother, nor did she want to be. Maura was only thirty-six, had a long-term boyfriend and a steady job as a secretary at a publishing company, and could not be bothered with whatever issues her grown son was having at school. So Hux had made it his mission to be appealing enough so that he might make just one friend, not even a close friend, but just somebody that found him bearable enough to speak to on a daily basis. So far, he had been unsuccessful.

"Hey."

Hux pivoted in his chair. It was Finn again, his glasses slightly crooked and one side of the collar on his shirt turned up. _He is really the only tolerable one_ , Hux thought. "What is it?"

"Do you have any idea where your roommate is? I haven't seen him all day, and Poe was thinking-"

"I don't think I've seen him since this morning," said Hux, looking back down at his paper. _Talk to someone else about Kylo._

"Poe was thinking we could have a movie night," Finn said quickly. Hux's eyes shot up faster than he thought possible.

"Well, you three have fun," he said icily, his ears reddening. For a second he'd thought that Finn meant the four of them, but every voice in his brain was telling him of course not, he was asking for just Kylo, anyway. Besides, Hux wouldn't want to do anything with any of them, _especially_ Kylo.

Finn looked confused. "There's four of us," he said. "We all live here. You can come if you want."

As if on cue, Kylo kicked open the door, his wavy hair in a ponytail. He greeted Finn and unlocked the door to their room.

"We're having a movie night," Hux blurted without thinking. He fought to keep his expression neutral, but he could feel blood creeping into his face.

A muscle in Kylo's arm jumped, and Hux shrank back before he could stop himself. Kylo turned around at that exact moment, of course, to see a flinching, skinny, red-faced boy nearly cowering in his seat.

"Yeah," Finn said. "You know, to christen the room. Poe's laptop is huge. Hey, Poe, he's back," he called over his shoulder.

"My laptop isn't the only thing that's huge," Poe said immediately. Hux rolled his eyes and tried to stop himself from saying "I doubt it."

Finn snorted. "Stop it. Do you want to see if Rey and Rose are in there?"

"Oh, shit, I know Rey," Kylo said. "That'd be cool."

Hux had no idea who either of those people were, but he decided not to say anything. Poe made his way over to the door to the hallway, and when he opened it, Hux could see that the door across the hall said "Rey", "Rose", and "Phasma", all on the same colorful pieces of paper that were on his own door. He walked across the hall to where the other three boys were, and Poe rapped on the door.

"It's Poe," he said. "And like, all your other neighbors."

"Not all of them," Hux clarified, but everyone ignored him. The door knob turned, and out stepped a girl who Hux could only assume was Rey, because both Kylo and Poe greeted her immediately, and Finn waved.

She was tall, with long, brown hair in a ponytail, and a choice of clothing that Hux thought was questionable, if not altogether ugly. He just wasn't really a fan of capri pants, but hey, live and let live. Rey was also muscular, her sinewy arms flexing as she placed them on her hips, and Hux thought with a smirk that Kylo probably knew her from the gym or something.

"Hello!" Rey said. She had a bright, pleasant voice, and not only that, but she was _English_. What had been apathy in Hux before began to feel like competition. "I'm Rey, but I think you've all probably figured that out." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Okay, so I see Finn, Poe, and Kylo, so…" She looked directly at Hux.

Here it comes.

"You're Armitage, then."

Hux exhaled loudly. "Hux is fine. My surname."

" _Surname_ ," Poe whispered. Hux shot him a look. Rey seemed fine enough, and he wasn't about to let Poe make fun of him in front of a Potential Friend.

"Just get your friend and we can go back," Kylo said, in a voice that almost could be demanding. Hux glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. _God, what a prat._

Rey snorted. "She isn't just my friend, Ben, and you know that." She shot a look over her shoulder and then turned to Poe. "I'm rooming with my girlfriend. Rose. We've been dating for four years," she added, noticing Finn's oddly shocked expression. Of course Hux thought it was risky for Rey to live with her girlfriend at such a young age, just in case they had a falling-out as most couples their age would, but Finn had reacted so strongly that Hux couldn't help but wonder. Finn and Poe _had_ been inseparable for as long as he'd known them, and perhaps Finn was thinking about a similar situation with him and Poe.

Both of them were undeniably handsome; even Hux, who had quickly developed a distaste for Poe and his antics, had to admit it. They complimented each other well, Poe ever so slightly shorter than Finn but otherwise of similar size and medium build. Hux had never wanted to be extremely muscular, but he wished he was the slightest bit substantial. He'd never been proud of his skinny legs, knobby knees, and ginger hair, even though his mum had halfheartedly promised him he'd grow into everything. Absentmindedly, he ran his finger through his heavily pomaded hair, realizing too late that he had messed it up entirely. Frantically, he tried to smooth it back down, but one strand kept popping back up.

Hux realized with a jolt that he had been so absorbed in his own thoughts, in his own self-pity, that he had started to pace. Kylo looked at him quizzically, his mouth open as if to say something, but he closed it when Hux caught his gaze. Hux dreaded having to walk the couple feet back toward Kylo, suddenly, knowing that the other boy would probably say something and start a fight.

"I'm here, I'm here, sorry," came a breathy voice from the doorway. Hux turned toward it, welcoming the distraction and desperate to get out from where Kylo had pinned him. In the doorway was a small, round-faced girl, at least a head shorter than Hux, with long, shiny black hair in two braids on either side of her head. Rey languidly put an arm around Rose, stroking one of her braids with the tips of her fingers. "Oh! Ben! Hi," she said to Kylo, who balked at being called Ben but gave Rose a small wave.

"Hey, I'm Poe," said Poe immediately, cracking a smile and holding out a fist. Rose laughed and bumped it. "That's Finn. And that's Armitage."

"For fuck's sake," Hux rolled his eyes. "Can we make our introductions in the comfort of our room? And, Poe, I assure you I am able to introduce myself."

"He's a joy," said Poe with another blinding smile. God, did nothing bother him? But the group did end up following Hux's lead and walking into the boys' common area, which Hux hadn't bothered to clean. Art supplies and carefully drawn sketches were strewn across the table and floor.

"Anyway," Rey was saying, "I moved to the US when I was fourteen, so Ben- sorry, Kylo- was my neighbor for four years." Abruptly, she stopped and picked up one of Hux's sketches. It was Hux's own profile, a picture he'd taken on his phone and decided to draw. He'd abandoned it, though, because he hated having to replicate the too-strong slope of his nose, the weakness of his jaw, and the downward turn of his light, grey-blue eyes. "Did you draw this?" Rey asked, her lightly freckled face breaking into a smile.

"Yes, I-" Hux began but was cut off by a cheer from Poe, who had successfully plugged his laptop into his speakers.

Poe clapped his hands together. "It's movie time, bitches," he crowed. "Hugs, can you clean up your life's work so we can all sit?" He nudged a can of colored pencils with his toe.

Hux turned red. "I'm sure we can work around them." But Poe was relentless, so he begrudgingly picked up his art and placed it on a crate in the corner of the room. When he returned, no room was left on the couch except for a small space between Kylo and Rose.

"Come on." Rose patted the couch. Kylo swiveled ever so slightly to face Hux, his jaw clenched but his eyes softer than they had been before.

Hux raised a brassy brow. "I prefer to stand."

"No, really," said Rose. She grinned, dimples popping up on either side of her mouth. "I don't bite."

 _It's not you that I'm concerned about._ But in all reality, Hux did not prefer to stand, so he awkwardly placed himself between her and Kylo, acutely aware of how close he was to the both of them, especially Kylo. He gave off more warmth than Rose, though Hux hadn't been this close to enough people to know whether that was normal. He turned to the movie that Poe had queued up, willing himself to lean back and enjoy it. But when he did, Hux's back met something smooth, not rough like the back of the dorm couch. He whipped his head around to meet the eyes of a shocked Kylo, whose brows immediately drew together.

"I apologize," said Hux. He sniffed and turned around, feeling a prickle of embarrassment travel up his neck and hoped against hope that it wasn't accompanied by a blush. Why the _hell_ was he so embarrassed? It had clearly been a mistake. "Would you mind moving your arm, though, so all of us have room to sit?"

Kylo narrowed his eyes, but moved his arm over a couple centimeters. Hux leaned back, trying not to look at Kylo's grimacing face.

The movie was fairly boring, nothing special, and Poe's constant commentary irked Hux to no end. He lifted a thin wrist to check the time- 10:00- and placed it on his lap once again. He would _not_ fall asleep, especially not here, surrounded by people he barely knew. And besides, what if he slumped and rolled his head onto someone's shoulder?

But stress and the lack of strong coffee got the best of Hux, and his head lolled to one side, landing on something smooth, and he fell asleep.


End file.
